


The Hogwarts  Express

by moonyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Sleepy Remus, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 14:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11579742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonyy/pseuds/moonyy
Summary: It's a warm September morning, marking the beginning of the Marauders' first year at Hogwarts.Sirius certainly didn't expect to find himself with three friends at the end of the train journey to school, especially not three friends in the shape of James Potter, Peter Pettigrew or Remus Lupin.From Sirius' POV.





	The Hogwarts  Express

Outside, the waking September sun cast harsh webs of light over the streets of London, assaulting the eyes of muggles and wizards alike. The air had turned bitter with the smells of the city; a deep humidity coated the buildings, blurring the outlines so that the magical world seemed to be clawing at the edges of the muggle surface. The young wizard felt as though he was walking through a dream-world, a dream quickly shattered by the sharp tug on his arm and pointed nails digging into his skin. Inside Kings Cross Station wasn’t much better. According to the loud muggle voice blaring across the platforms- that had been the root of the sour expression plastered across his mother's face- the ‘air condish’ had broken. Sirius wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly, but he knew that his robes felt extremely uncomfortable being plastered to his skin. He didn’t care that these robes had been in his family for generations or that they were embroidered with the family crest and that their motto, ‘toujours pur’ (a stupid motto, if you asked Sirius. He didn’t even know anyone in his family that was French) ran along the hems of the sleeves, he just wanted out of them. Sweat trickled slowly down his back. Gross.

He tried to roll his sleeves up and at least undo the stiff brass clasp at the base of his neck, but his mother had slapped his hands away with a disapproving icy glare. “But, Mother, it’s far too hot for these robes!” Sirius squirmed uncomfortably. All the other kids got to wear muggle clothes- you know, t-shirts, jeans. Sirius had once made the mistake of asking his mother if he could get a muggle outfit and she had responded by banishing him to his room, forbidding him from having supper and threatening to disown him from the family. He hadn’t brought it up again.

“Sirius Orion Black,” his mother said his name through gritted teeth, as though she was looking at something particularly horrible, “I will not have you disgracing our family. You are a member of the prestigious and noble House of Black, so act like it.”

“Yes, Mother,” Sirius replied resignedly, lifting his gaze from the stone floor of the platform and adopting the straight-backed, aloof posture that he’d been taught to perfect at a young age.

“Good boy, Sirius,” his mother praised and although she had a hard time getting those words past her tight lips, Sirius felt an unfamiliar sense of pride for doing something right. “You recall the rules?”

“I must only make friends- allies- with purebloods. I must be sorted into Slytherin. I must achieve high grades. And, I must not associate with muggleborns,” Sirius recited dutifully. He didn’t understand the words; he didn’t understand why he had to follow these rules, he just knew he had to if he wanted to uphold the family name. And that was all that mattered. Walburga Black nodded, faintly approving of her first-born son, steel-grey eyes giving him a final once-over before she decided he was suitable to board the Hogwarts Express. Around them, students were laughing and chatting animatedly to their friends or kissing and hugging family goodbye for the school year. Sirius couldn’t remember the last time his mother had lovingly embraced him. The only times she touched him was when she was delivering a scolding in the form of a slap across the cheeks or a sharp tug of his hair. He didn’t particularly feel like now was the time for some son-mother bonding. His goodbye was punctual and formal. He gave his mother a short, awkward bow before turning around and stepping on the train.

After venturing only a few feet into the crowded carriage, Sirius was knocked forcefully into the window, his ornate black satchel falling from his shoulder.

“Hey! Watch it!” He called, indignantly. His mother had told him not to let anyone push him around; ‘as a Black, people bow down to you, Sirius. Never lower yourself. Never look up. Always down’. However, the boy had already disappeared. Sirius didn’t know whether to follow the boy off the train, get angry or simply forget about it. What would a Black do? No, Sirius didn’t need to think like that. He could decide for himself. His mother wasn’t here, after all. Before Sirius could decide on the correct response, however, the boy had returned, grinning apologetically. “Sorry for bumping into you,” his eyes were a wild brown, flickering with a mischievous light as he pushed a pair of glasses onto his face, “I was in a hurry, see, I almost forgot my glasses. Mum was going mental, worrying the train was going to leave me.”

The boy was panting slightly, a mess of black hair half stuck to his forehead. He rolled his eyes as if to say, parents, am I right? and Sirius could definitely understand. His mum would give him an hour long lecture about how his forgetfulness would bring shame upon their noble family.

“Well, you made it and at least you won’t be blind for the year,” Sirius remarked cheerfully. “Disaster averted,” the boy agreed. “I’m James by the way. James Potter.”

“Black,” Sirius responded, “Sirius Black.”

“Huh, Black. Isn’t your family super pureblood elitist?” James piped up curiously, handing Sirius his bag which had fallen to the floor. “Yeah. My parents would kill me if they caught me talking to anyone other than a pureblood,” Sirius was not joking in any way but James grinned at him widely.

“Awesome. You must have some fun family picnics.”

“We don’t picnic, we build sacrificial altars from the bones of our enemies,” Sirius corrected with a straight face.

“Um,” James scratched the back of his neck, “You are joking, right?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Of course I’m joking, James. Now c’mon, let’s go find somewhere to sit before there’s no seats left.”

As they strolled through the carriages of the train, Sirius found it difficult to avoid the eyes, both fearful and admiring, of the other students. He felt as though he was drowning in their judgement and first impressions, made worse by the fact that most of them were older than him. He knew it was because of his family. He couldn’t hide from who he was, not whilst he was wearing these robes, and he hated it. He just wanted to be Sirius. Not a member of the noble House of Black. At least to James he would just be Sirius. “What about in here?” James nodded to the last compartment of the last carriage that they were standing in front of. Sirius peered in through the window. It was entirely empty apart from a boy who had to be a first year like them, sleeping with his back to them, facing the window. Why hadn’t anyone else decided to sit in here?

Sirius shrugged, “Better here than being on the roof.”

He slid open the door, seating himself opposite the sleeping boy whilst James took a set next to the door. Glancing in the window, Sirius groaned inwardly. He’d just remembered that his mother had slicked his hair back, his usual dark waves stuck to his skull. He attempted to mess up the arrangement, but his hair was stuck rigid. Great. He’d have to resign himself to looking like a prat for the first day. Not that he didn’t already with his stupid robes.

“Nice hair,” James commented, seeing Sirius’ frustration.

“Shut it, Potter,” Sirius retorted, before softening his tone slightly, “You have no idea how crazy my family is.”

“Hmm, judging by those robes I think I have a very good idea, actually,” James cocked an eyebrow. “Look, what you need is some relaxation and fun time away from all that pureblood elitism.”

“You’re telling me,” Sirius grumbled. “And, by being friends with me-“

“We're friends?”

“Duh.”

“Who decided that?”

“I did. Any objections?”

Sirius considered his options for a moment. Granted, James was the first and only person he had properly met, but he seemed like a good person. He hadn’t been scared of Sirius because of his family, he didn’t have any uptight prejudices and he had a dangerous glint to his eyes that appealed to Sirius.

“No,” Sirius decided, “I accept your friendship.”

James nodded approvingly, of course you do, Black. “Anyway, as I was saying, I have a plan to help you begin this new life of fun away from your crazy family.”

“Please, feel free to expand,” Sirius waved his hand dramatically, the corners of his mouth turning upwards ever so slightly.

“Dungbombs. You saw the carriage before this one, right? Full of first-year and second-year girls. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we set off a few?”

“I’m in,” Sirius sealed the deal with a high-five. At that moment, the compartment doors swung open and a small, chubby blond-haired boy tumbled inside. Scrambling to his feet, the boys cheeks flamed pink and his eyes, a watery blue, flitted from James to Sirius before dropping to the ground.

“Were you eavesdropping on us?” James accused hotly, his eyebrows scrunching together as he frowned.

“N-no! Well, yes, but I’m not going to tell anyone if that’s what you think! I promise! I just- I heard you were planning a prank and I-I was wondering if I could help?”

Sirius tilted his head to one side. This was the kind of wizard his mother would want him to avoid altogether. This boy was clearly someone who could be used, but he wasn’t strong enough to be a threat.

“What’s your name?” Sirius asked, arms crossed, sleeves rolled up defiantly.

“P-Peter Pettigrew. You’re Sirius Black,” He pointed at Sirius earnestly, with admiring respect before turning to James with the same awe, “And you’re James Potter.”

“That’s right,” James nodded. He shared a conspiring glance with Sirius before returning his gaze to the smaller boy. “Okay, Peter, you can help us.”

The blond boy looked practically ecstatic, nodding fervently to James’ words. The boy, glasses slipping off the bridge of his nose, gathered them together in the middle of the compartment for a motivational speech. Fascinatingly, the sleeping boy, who Sirius noticed had an old white scar that ripped across his face, had barely stirred.

“Here’s the plan: Peter will act as guard. Make sure no prefects enter the carriage. Cause a distraction if you must, do whatever you have to, just honour the prank. Sirius will take the near end of the carriage, distributing dungbombs evenly but timing is crucial. You must leave time for me to exit the carriage. Finally, I will take the furthest away part of the carriage. This is the most dangerous job as I have very little time to exit the area and make it to safety. If I don’t make it, I want you to know that I love you, Sirius. No homo.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “We've literally just met each other.”

“And yet the love I feel is real,” James sniffed dramatically, clutching his chest.

Sirius pressed his lips together, trying not to let his face betray any amusement, “Prat.”

On that note, the three budding pranksters left the compartment to carry out their well-rehearsed plan.

~

The three young wizards returned to their compartment in mixed spirits. James was scowling slightly, nursing a bruising jaw; Peter was wild eyed and flustered, his eyes alight with admiration and Sirius had a wide grin across his face, laughing so hard years were streaming down his face.

“-I can’t believe you blamed McKinnon of farting! That caused an all out fight!”

“Oh man, did you see how Evans punched you in the face, though?”

“Yes. I am very well aware of that Sirius.”

“She was all like ‘piss off Potter, you arrogant toe-rag’- then bam!”

“Bam,” Peter agreed, enthusiastically, “Did you see how James threw this magical goo at Snape's face though? Great improvisation!”

“Thanks Peter,” James took this opportunity to steer the conversation away from Lily Evans punching him in the face, “It’s not lethal goo, it will just turn his skin blue temporarily, plus we needed a distraction because someone couldn’t take care of guard post duty.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Peter mumbled, ashamed, collapsing in the seat next to Sirius.

“It’s alright, Pete,” Sirius waved his hand, a bright sparkle to his usual dull grey eyes, “That was fantastic.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a ton of pranks planned for the school year. You haven’t seen anything yet.” James rubbed his jaw, grimacing slightly, before letting his hands drop into the pockets of his jeans.

“My mother is going to kill me,” Sirius stated. But instead of a voice tinged with fear, James Potter had given him a sense of rebellion. He wasn’t going to let anyone have a say in how he lived is life or the friends he made.

“Just let her try,” James scoffed, “She’ll have to get through me and Peter first, right Pete?”

“Yeah, sure,” Peter offered, although he looked less enthusiastic about standing up to Walburga Black and the prospect of imminent death.

“So,” Sirius forged ahead, wanting to put any thoughts of his mother dearest behind him, “We all know my family is evil and I’m probably destined for Slytherin, but what about you guys?”

“I’m not sure,” Peter bit the inside of his cheek, swinging his legs slightly as they didn’t quite reach the floor, “I guess as long as I’m sorted in the same house as you guys that’s fine with me.”

“Well, I’m going to be in Gryffindor,” James announced with pride and certainty. He stood up, pacing the compartment on the balls of his feet, stopping to peer out the window before turning around to face the other boys, “Just like my mum and dad were. Plus, they say only the best wizards get into Gryffindor. You have to be brave and daring and-“

“Truly fascinating,” a dry, rough voice that Sirius hadn’t heard before piped up, cutting off James mid-speech, “Now, would you please move?”

“Uhm,” speechless, James sat back down as the boy who’d been asleep, the boy with the mysteriously badass scar, glided across the compartment, handed over two sickles to the trolley lady (who’d apparently just materialised right at this moment) and received a huge chocolate bar. As the boy had made no noise before now, Sirius had almost forgotten he was there, and had assumed his state of consciousness must be permanent. Apparently, that was not the case.

“Anything else from the trolley, dears?” The old lady glanced around the compartment expectantly and Sirius scrambled to his feet to examine the goods, with James and Peter following in pursuit. Minutes later, they were loaded with pumpkin juice, liquorice wands (although everyone apart from Sirius found liquorice disgusting), chocolate frogs, peppermint imps and acid pops. Chewing hard on a liquorice wand, Sirius eyed the sleeping boy, who was now not asleep, who was now in fact stuffing his face with chocolate and reading a book. Except it wasn’t a proper book, not any book Sirius had seen. It was far too colourful for starters, too thin, and had too many pictures. Maybe this guy just wasn’t very smart. He didn’t look very wealthy either. He was wearing scuffed black school shoes, greying wool trousers that were slightly too small, and an oversized jumper in a sickly yellow shade. He was exactly the type of wizard his mother hated the most, so naturally, Sirius just knew he had to make friends with this kid.

“What are you reading?” Sirius asked bluntly, hoping he wasn’t being too rude.

“Comic book,” the boy replied, looking up at Sirius briefly with curiosity before flipping over the page and continuing with his reading.

“Ah yes, a Comic Book,” Sirius agreed, although he had no idea what a comic book was. It must be something muggles read. He looked at James expectantly, mouthing what is it?, but James simply shrugged helplessly in reply. Sirius had no choice to continue blabbering, with Peter smirking at him out of the corner of his eye, “I love those. The first edition is definitely my favourite.”

“You read X-Men?” The not-sleeping boy fixed Sirius with a questioning gaze, his eyes the colour of honey.

“Yes- no- I mean, actually I prefer W-Men,” Sirius blurted out, hoping it was the right thing to say. The boy however began to laugh, dropping his comic in his lap as he covered his mouth. Of course, this broke Peter’s resolve too, who laughed along with him. Thankfully, James was as confused as Sirius was.

“Okay, so I don’t know who these Y-Men-“

“-X-Men-“ The boy corrected between giggling, his neat, light brown hair falling into his eyes.

“-Fine, I don’t know who these X-Men are, okay?” Sirius admitted, hastily, “I’m not great with muggle stuff. I was just trying to- argh, never mind.”

“What he’s trying to say,” James butted in, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips despite him being as equally confused as Sirius, “is do you want to be friends?”

A beat passed. The laughter faded.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” the boy began slowly, “It’s just, I’ve never had friends before and- and you seem like good people, I don’t want to mess anything up. See, you probably won’t like me. I’m not a good person.”

“Hey now, you can’t be that bad!” James brushed away the boys concerns, “I mean, Sirius comes from a super evil pureblood family-“

“It’s true. My mother would happily burn all of the Y-Men off the face of the planet,” Sirius attested cheerfully.

“-And Pete’s really shy, I mean, he was eavesdropping on our conversation so I had some serious doubts about loyalty at first-“

“I said I was sorry,” Peter chipped in, still a hint of remorse in his voice, “You guys just seemed so cool.”

“- So not matter how bad you think you are, it’s probably not true,” James smiled warmly at the boy next to him, “Plus, we don’t scare easily.”

He held his hand out to the boy, who was eyeing James with softer eyes. “I’m James Potter by the way.”

“What’s your bad side then?” The boy with the scar asked, a crooked smile on his lips.

“Oh, I don’t have a bad side. I’m perfection,” James replied with a bright grin.

“He means he’s an arrogant prat,” Sirius translated, holding down the last of his liquorice wand. A quick glance out of the window told him they had almost reached Hogsmeade. Dense forest was all he could see at the moment, shades of green and brown and the occasional breakthrough of pale blue sky. The boy chuckled slightly and although his eyes were still unsure, perhaps even fearful, he reached out and took James’ offered hand.

“Remus Lupin.”

“Well, Remus, you are now a proud member of the...Fantastic Four.” James announced their team name with pride, and Sirius was also impresses at the quick-thinking ingenuity, but Peter and Remus were shaking their heads.

“Awful comic.” Peter mumbled.

“Not one of my favourites,” Remus spoke in assent.

“I don’t know this comic you speak of,” James countered defensively, his mind whirring, “but what about the Fabulous Four instead?”

“I like it. I am fabulous, after all,” Sirius nodded enthusiastically. Peter shook his head as a no.

“How about you take ‘four’ out of the title,” Remus suggested, “It’s too cheesy.”

A few minutes passed in silence. Remus had pulled out another comic and continued reading. Peter was eating a pumpkin pasty. James was trying hard to come up with a good team name- he was the only one who wanted them to have a team name in the first place- and he was failing at every new suggestion. Sirius was twirling his wand, not the liquorice kind, against the window in boredom, producing pale purple sparks that spread across the glass. He hadn’t realised how badly he’d wanted to come to Hogwarts, to live somewhere that wasn’t his house. No yelling, no expectations- just friends. Well, and school work. And teachers shouting. And school expectations and rules. But you know what he meant.

They were only a minute away from the station when James jumped up from his seat, punching the air triumphantly, “I’ve got it!”

The other occupants of the compartment looked at him expectantly. “Drum roll, Sirius!”

“Do I have to?” Sirius complained, rolling his eyes. James just gave him 'that look', so begrudgingly his tapped a vigorous drum roll on the wooden side of the train.

“Wait for it, wait for it..........The Marauders!” James grinned at them all proudly, becoming slightly hesitant at their less-excited expressions. “So, what do you think?”

“Well,” Sirius tapped his chin contemplatively, “I was expecting something a bit more flashy but I suppose it does have a nice ring to it.”

“It’s better than ‘James Potter and the Three Musketeers’,” Remus conceded.

“Why do we even need a group name?” Peter asked logically, tugging on a sleeve of the blue t-shirt he was wearing, “What are we maraudering anyway?”

“Marauding,” James corrected smoothly, “Every good group of friends needs a team name.”

“I barely know you guys,” Sirius interjected with a half-joking look in James’ direction.

“Hm, maybe we should drop the whole team name thing for a couple of years,” Peter suggested, shoving the rest of the sweets into his pockets.

“Hm, why are you all being so serious?” James muttered, tousling his hair and adjusting his glasses for getting off the train.

“Actually, only I’m Sirius,” Sirius retorted expertly. Man, it’d been 11 years and he still used that joke at every opportunity and he would continue to do so for the rest of his life. James rolled his eyes with a resigned sigh, Peter giggled, but Remus suddenly gasped.

“Oh Merlin, we need to put on our school robes!” The not-asleep boy panicked, getting on tip-toes to grab a battered leather case from the rack above their heads and pulling out black school robes.

“To the loos!” James declared, as Sirius fished his own robes out of his bag, but Remus shook his head.

“There’s no time. We’re pulling into the station now.”

Remus simply pulled his robes over the top of his head, his jumper and wool trousers hidden under swathes of shabby, slightly-greying robes and the Hogwarts crest. Well, Sirius couldn’t do that could he, because he was already wearing robes. With a warning of ‘look away’, Sirius peeled off his prestigious family robes and balled them up at the bottom of his back, slipping on new Hogwarts robes that gave him a better sense of belonging. He turned around, discovering Peter and James had also changed, and cleared his breath.

The train had stopped at the platform. Students were already spilling from the doors and a loud, booming voice declared ‘firs’ years this way!’.

“So, who’s ready for the first year at Hogwarts?” James spoke aloud, and Sirius wondered if the boy was actually feeling nervous.

“So much to study and explore.”

“So many pranks.”

“I think it might just be the best year of my life,” Sirius wished out loud, the corners of his lips turned up in a smile.

James nodded, “C'mon, we don’t want to miss the boats. We have to make a good entrance. We’ve got a whole seven years ahead of us.”


End file.
